The folly of self-righteousness!

By Tenzin Nima

The enemy most often lurks within us. Ordinary Tibetans seem to hate
our intellectuals for expressing their purported independence, for not
falling in line with the populist ideas. The intellectuals, unable to
convince the masses of their “grand” ideas, are living sort of
self-imposed, alienated, and frustrated lives — not able to make any
substantial connection with the larger society.

The politicians are no better. They are bent on continuing the
status quo, avoiding the truth that freedom is all about resistance, not
about adapting to the oppression inflicted by the enemy. They are
content to live a life of diplomacy, not rocking the boat, not being
controversial — in short, making themselves believe that the Middle-Way
policy is an end in itself, rather than a means that was designed to
secure freedom for Tibet — which, as His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself
publicly acknowledged, it has failed to do.

Those on the side of Rangzen are not faring well either. Isolated,
mocked, and even treated as an obstacle to negotiations between the
Tibetan leadership and Chinese government during the decades-long-rule
of Samdhong Rinpoche, the Tibetan Youth Congress was made to look like
an organization that should be avoided and shunned — like that of Hamas,
which was considered as a stumbling block for Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations. A proof of this was an official guideline issued to the
civil servants of the Tibetan government in exile by Samdhong Rinpoche’s
administration, banning them from having any contact whatsoever with TYC
— even forbidding them to donate money to the organization’s innocuous
campaigns such as candlelight vigils for Tibetans killed inside Tibet.

Of course Rinpoche’s motivation, kunlong, was sincere. He
wanted to create a “positive atmosphere” for the Sino-Tibetan
negotiations. He felt that if the Tibetan administration made it
absolutely clear that it totally gave up on the struggle for
independence, (like one loyalist who said “even if all Tibetans went out
for Rangzen, I would still stick with the Middle-Way”), the Chinese
government would somehow be convinced and begin serious talks for
autonomy. Of course Rinpoche’s dreams were never realized. On the
contrary it resulted in a deep polarization of the small exile Tibetan
society — those claiming for Rangzen bearing the brunt of this policy,
namely TYC and a few individuals.

After having been pushed back against the wall and remaining in
limbo for a decade during Samdhong Rinpoche’s reign, facing a deep
existential crisis, TYC has finally struck
back — and with what a vengeance. It recently organized a press
conference concerning a Tibetan family who gave up everything here in
exile and decided to march all the way home. TYC
is denouncing this family for the simple reason that they carry the
Chinese red flag together with the Tibetan and Indian national flags. TYC
is furious, saying that carrying such a flag is a “blotch in Tibetan
history”, meaning they are undermining the Tibetan freedom struggle —
not giving an inch of consideration to the fact that the Chinese flag
was meant (naively of course) to send out a message to Han Chinese that
the family do not hate them. Ironically, last year TYC,
in solidarity with the self-immolations inside Tibet, brought out a
press release asking Tibetans in exile not to celebrate the Tibetan New
Year, and urged them instead to donate the money they would otherwise
spent on celebrations to the exile Tibetan government — which is seeking
autonomy rather than independence!

A serious pursuit of freedom is not the cup of tea for a majority of
people. Only a few courageous individuals, who have self-consciousness
and belief in the certainty of their own selves, would seriously walk
the path to freedom. The family members on their march to Tibet are such
courageous individuals who are seeking real freedom. But the universal
truth, as always, is that whenever a potential pioneer emerges in a
society — be it a writer, inventor, or a freedom fighter — the majority
of us are shocked and outraged, because they shake us out of our
complacency and normalized way of things.

Is it then a surprise that often our reactions, like that of TYC, are so self-damaging?

NOTE-- The article was initially published by Tibet Sun and spotted by Tibet Telegraph

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3 comments:

This is very clear information and since i saw their post of noncooperation with 3 family. The present decision planner never think of their own stance and possibly damaging status of 3 family member. I also comment on the page just before their announcement, The above article is the point and i could understand how swiftly things getting deteriorating! TYC represents whole of Exile youth and always careful handling internal and external matters!

Can you share some more insights on the Rangzen philosophy??? How does the organisation seek to achieve Rangzen?? Or is this premised on hopes and aspirations derived from lessons of past independence movements? If yes, the claims on the feasibility and success of middle way approach is equally affirmed by history?